Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] Poll about linux music audio app usability
From: David Olofson (david_AT_gardena.net)
Date: Tue Jun 11 2002 - 05:53:20 EEST
On Tuesday 11 June 2002 04.19, Juan Linietsky wrote:
> > That's basically why I think inventing Yet Another, Although Much
> > Cooler Looking GUI Toolkit would be worth the effort, if it could
> > help cutting GUI development time without dropping chrome and/or
> > features. (Whether or not it's possibly is another issue. Guess
> > I'll
> >
> > just have to try it...)
>
> Actually, Instead of writing another GUI toolkit i think the best
> is to write widgets that would go well for audio programs in some
> existing widget set such as GTK.
I think that's just pushing the problem in front of us. When
implementing widgets (on top of GDK, for example), you're basically
writing very low level graphics rendering code - which few really
enjoy, and which takes time to do well.
I'd much rather use something more structured and higher level than
the rendering backends of traditional toolkits, but lower level than
a normal toolkit. One could use it from C or C++, but the point is
that it should help with some of the low level *logic* - just not
basic rendering on a plain canvas. Primitive "objects" that can be
clickable, draggable, interconnected etc, and have graphics
primitives, images and stuff hooked up to them. That is, "use the API
to *build* the widget, rather than rendering it."
Of course, one could strap a scripting language and/or a visual
editor onto that, and have something like a multimedia applet
authoring tool. (Well, people are using Macromedia Flash and the like
to build plugin GUIs, so why not?)
> > > >We do have very powerful tools, but i have to admit that for
> > > > most of them we have to learn some script programming.
> > >
> > > Some people think this is a good thing because the tools are
> > > ultimately more capable and less limiting. Others disagree.
> >
> > I'd like both... Fiddle knobs and draw curves until you get the
> > basic sound, and then, if required, unscrew the chrome panels to
> > hack same more complex logic and/or math in. :-)
> >
> > Doesn't make things easier, does it?
>
> Personally I'd rather move knobs than trying values. I write my
> apps usually in the userfriendly way becuse of this.
Well, it's just that when you're up to tens of knobs just to describe
how velocity affects the "vowel" of a formant filter, I start feeling
stupid. Some things are just much easier to express as code, and I
would like to have that tool around when that happens. (Oh, and it's
probably easier to build those GUIs with that scripting language in
the first place, if you're going to have it around anyway... ;-)
//David
.- M A I A -------------------------------------------------.
| Multimedia Application Integration Architecture |
| A Free/Open Source Plugin API for Professional Multimedia |
`---------------------------> http://www.linuxdj.com/maia/ -'
.- David Olofson -------------------------------------------.
| Audio Hacker - Open Source Advocate - Singer - Songwriter |
`-------------------------------------> http://olofson.net -'
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